


Background Blues

by Maggers727



Category: Marble Hornets
Genre: Drug Use, alcohol use, ghost!jay, mentions of Tim - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-12
Updated: 2015-06-12
Packaged: 2018-04-04 01:32:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4121365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maggers727/pseuds/Maggers727
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jay follows Jessica around to check up on her but finds it hard to leave. (420 follower giveaway "Jayssica" fic requested by: oger-seer) (also if you pay enough attention this fic is kind of back ground for Patch Work but at the same time it's not)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Background Blues

It's a nice day out today. Big, calm clouds float across the bright blue sky. Jessica's on her way home after meeting with Tim. She's glad they were able to get him to calm down after a bit. The goodbye was kind of awkward, but she knows that Tim ackowledges her appreciation. Jessica can't help but feel as if she's taking something good and bad from this experience. Sure she doesn't remember most of those months with that Jay guy, but at least she's got medication to help her and something else. Jessica doesn't know what it is, it might just be a feeling, but she knows this is gonna be a brand new start.

\---------

Jay is having a hard time deciding who to go with. Stay with Tim, who just up and started having a fit with no Operator in sight, or go with Jessica, the one reason you kept fighting. Either one is better than wandering alone as a ghost. 

Jay picks Jessica because he knows he'll eventually pop back to Tim. It's happened once. Jay got so caught up looking at Alex's dead body that the thing ended up grabbing him too. Nothing happened, but Jay just appeared back to where Tim was still lying on the floor by the stairs. It took him a bit to stop freaking out and realize that he couldn't do anything. He's had to do that a lot ever since Tim finally saw Jay's body and suddenly Jay went wherever Tim went. Jay never knew how well Tim could actually play so many instruments.

So with a final hesitant step, Jay follows Jessica and only glances back once to make sure Tim drove off safely. Jay hopes that whatever he's doing won't last long. He kind of feels guilty for leaving Tim. That is, if a ghost can feel guilty at all.

\-----

It's been about a week and Jay doesn't regret this decision in the least bit. So far, He's gone through the daily life of Jessica Locke. The actual normal, daily life of someone that he doesn't have to worry about 24/7. Well, he still worries about her but not like he has to with Tim. He feels terrible about it, but at the same time it's a nice change for once. Jay's learned that he and Jessica actually have a lot more in common than just hotels and missing friends. 

She likes to go to this coffee shop and always orders something caramel in it. No matter what, Jay's first choice of coffe would always be their best option with caramel in it. She likes making lists and being as organized as possible. Jay's seen the inside of her school sachel and was pretty impressed. To his surprise, he saw at least three crossword puzzle books in it. If it wasn't the gorgeous brown hair and cute as hell face, then damn, the way she can complete a puzzle in less than 20 minutes sure has his interest hooked. 

Jay knows its no use talking, she can't hear him, but he does it anyways. At least, he does it when he just really wants to say something or just has a comment in general. The only thing he's sort of having trouble with is walking in her house. He literally can't travel farther than the porch. Well, it'd be creepy for him to follow her anywhere else in the house but it's not the greatest when you're sitting outside most of the time waiting for time to pass until she comes back out. Jay's only left to heave a sigh when he thinks Jessica's coming out, but it ends up being her new roommate, instead. 

\---------

It's been about three weeks now, and Jay's fallen into a schedule. They go from the house to the coffee shop practically every day. Most of those days she has class and enjoys going to the park to relax and study after each lesson. Sometimes she'll visit her parents' house when she needs to stop by. She works cash register at the grocery store when she's scheduled to go in and then finally goes back home if she doesn't make plans with her friends. Jay doesn't know why but its the greatest thing to see Jessica living a normal life. Although he's kind of jealous about it all, he still can't help smiling at almost everything she does. 

Jay doesn't really think about it, but he starts really noticing the small things about Jessica. The way she genuinely smiles at certain jokes some of her friends crack. His favorite part is when she's quick enough to say something back to make the joke even better. She'll squint her eyes a little bit when she concentrates and there's always a slight sparkle in them whenever she comes up with an answer or solves a problem. Jay thinks it's really interesting how even though she's a biology major, she takes a couple of art classes for fun. Some of her friends tease her about it by saying she'll never graduate if she keeps taking classes she doesn't need. She doesn't care though. Jay's favorite day so far was when she took that trip to the school's art gallery by herself. No one to interrupt the soft gaze she'd have when looking at "Background Blues by Boyd Davidson". No one to sit by her on the bench, so even though he'd go unnoticed, he'd be there to fill the spot

He always felt so guilty about dragging her into the mess but now that he knows she can live like this, it's the greatest feeling he's had for a long time. That is, until the next morning when Jessica comes out.

Jay hears the front door open and he gets up off the porch swing to walk towards her. Almost immediately, Jessica starts coughing and practically doubles over. Her sachel falls to the ground and some of the contents spill out. Jay's confused for a moment when he remembers why she's coughing. He hears her curse under her breath while inbetween gasps of air. Jay steps a little closer to get a better look at the situation just as she starts coughing even harder. Not meaning to, he calls out her name and squats down to her side. She jumps a bit and looks his direction, and for a split second Jay could have sworn they made actual eye contact. It barely lasted a second before her face became more red from lack of oxygen. She quickly continues to scramble through her bag and finally pulls out the bottle of pills. Jay tenses and bitterness washes over him as he watches her wash the pills down with a drink from her water bottle. 

Jay can't help but wonder.

He starts to back away and give her space and suddenly she gets a lot better. He hears her mumble about hallucinating as she stuffs everything back in her bag. She quickly starts walking to class and Jay follows at a distance.

\--------

Everythings going well and fine, Jessica stopped by the doctors to give them an update and refilled her perscription. Afterwards, Jay followed her to a restaurant she's meeting her roommate and a couple of other friends at. Everything's back to normal. Jay just hopes that he doesn't have anything to do with the coughing fits she's having. Well, they do happen when he's closer than 20 feet from her, but Jay doesn't want to think about it. He was having a great time. Witnessing a happy, normal life while in the shadow of the one having it. It's kind of sad and pathetic when you really think about it. Jay doesn't like to think about it, but as he sits there in the small empty space of the booth the party sits in, he can't help but to think. He can't help but to think about how he's probably doing more harm than none. Since his death was caused by that thing, he hates to admit it, but it probably has some kind of hold on his spirit, his soul. That's why Tim suddenly had the coughing fit and Jay never saw the Operator around that time.

So its then that the guy next to him suddenly shivers and puts his jacket on, not knowing that the suddenly self aware ghost is causing the change in temperature. Jay spends the rest of the night at the empty table across from Jessica and company. He sits there and soaks up the small things he's come to enjoy, and even though he's feeling down about his new decision to move on, he can't help but to smile when she does.

\---------

Everyone's leaving and walking home. Jessica seems to be going home alone tonight since her roommate will be with their boyfriend instead. One friend offers to walk with her but she declines since the house is simply down the street and around the corner. They eventually agree to leave her be but the real question is will she really be alone? 

Jay tells himself it'll only be a little bit longer with her and starts following her as they depart from the group. He doesn't want to think about this being the last walk they have, or that she won't ever be able to acknowledge it. He doesn't want to think about the fact that this will be the last time he sees the one person he's had an actual interest for. The one person who has shown him what normal is even if they don't know they have. So when that corner suddenly gets closer, Jay decides that's it. As he sees her body turn with the curb, he goes the opposite way and never looks back.

The followwer becomes the wanderer, but not all who wander are lost, right? Jay smiles to himself as he remembers that quote written on Jessica's philosophy notebook. Tim flashes through his mind and he can't help but think about having to do the same when he gets back to him. Jay will have to leave Tim as well. Afterwards, well, he doesn't know what he'll do. Maybe he'll think about it when the time comes. 

Jay still hasn't looked back and he's sure that he doesn't need a physical body to feel this terrible. He's sure that it's the best decision he's made in a long time. He stands there under the street light by the bus stop and merely blinks before he finds himself in a new environment. A dimly lit apartment that's barely furnished. There's a TV on and as Jay turns to look around he sees Tim sleeping on the couch. A couple of beer bottles and a ciggarette dish sit upon the side table. 

Jay goes over to the foot of the couch and sits down on the floor with his back against it. He sits and waits as the worry now begins to settle in once again.

\----------

He's not surprised honestly. He's not surprised he finds himself going back to Jessica even if he's only staying for a moment to check up on her. It's been almost a month and he knew this would happen. He couldn't keep up with following the robotic mess of a life that was Tim's. It's nothing against Tim, in fact Jay feels guilty all over again for leaving a second time, but he couldn't stop obsessing over the thought of how Jessica was doing. So he's not surprised he ended up going back to her.

The fact that he showed up in the middle of a cemetary is what surprises him. At first he thinks he just showed up in the middle of a relative's funeral, but seeing that there wasn't one around, he know's something's wrong. He quickly scans the area to look for anyone standing around but no one's there. 

It doesn't occur to him until a few panicked seconds later that the head stone right in front of him spells out her name. Once the information finally processes, the grass beneath Jay's feet begins to die and dry up. If ghosts could cry, he's sure he would have but that's one of the big downsides to being a loose soul. He doesn't understand why and he hates that fact, but all he can do is crumble to his knees and start spewing apology after apology. Grass begins to disappear into dirt and the flowers left at the grave begin to wilt. It's not until a little while passes and Jay's still not done apologizing that he feels a hand on his shoulder that causes him to stop immediately and turns around. 

"Jay?"

"Jessica?"


End file.
